I watched Into the Wild last night. Sean Penn directed it. It's beautifully filmed-- I could tell great pains were taken to capture each shot. The film focuses on the true story of Chris McCandless, an upper middle class kid who decides to "reject" society and live off the land in Alaska.

I thought it was interesting that the filmmaker chose to make McCandless something of a heroic character, through the overdramatic score and numerous reverent shots. I just didn't see him that way, so it was kinda tough going through the two and a half hours. Into the Wild just reeks of earnestness, and though I suppose there's nothing wrong with that in and of itself, I just didn't take to its subject.

For a more realistic and complex portrait of a human being living in "the wild," I much prefer Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man. Grizzly Man is a documentary about Timothy Treadwell, a dude who decides to go live in Alaska with grizzly bears, who he thinks of as his trustworthy friends. It's completely bizarre and compelling. It's famous in part because it was compiled and cut together by Herzog from footage Treadwell shot himself during his time in Alaska, footage that was left behind when he was eventually and inevitably killed by his "friends." This footage is intercut with interviews with friends and family. This film takes a hands-off approach to its subject. Treadwell is presented in all his humanity and it is left to the viewer to decide if he is a complete nut or a just a well-meaning but ultimately foolish idealist.

There's something about writing this blog that gets me to freely admit to all my trashiest pleasures.

I found a new one last week...it's Gossip Girl. Geez, I know. But it's so much fun to watch! It's all scandal and drama, unfolding at an addictingly breathtaking pace. In a refreshing move away from the oversaturation of shows about high schoolers in Southern California, Gossip Girl takes place on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It's about smart, bratty uniformed kids at a prep school and their sensational, overwrought lives.

This show is surprisingly good in all the ways that new "women-friendly" shows like Lipstick Jungle and Cashmere Mafia are not. It's exceedingly well-cast, with pretty rich boys and perfect princess girls. More importantly, the cast noticeably gels together instantly-- from the first episode they fit together and are believably friends, unlike the aforementioned Sex in the City ripoffs, which seem shallow and awkward. This show zips along, understanding its subjects effortlessly; a major portion of the show is the oh-so-2008 spread of gossip through cell phones. Something scandalous happens and every character knows instantly -- it's already been texted to them, or they have checked out the Gossip Girl blog, where the unnamed narrator of the show presides over regular posts about certain 'in' prep school kids' every move. This all creates an accelerated feeling of excitement -- most soapy nighttime dramas slowly unfold their drama over weeks of overly fraught and extensive close-ups. This show smartly recognizes that the nature of technology has brought us to the point where if a school mate is buying a pregnancy test and anyone happens to see it, within 2 minutes everyone not only knows, but has a damning picture of the event taking place thanks to their handy cell phone. Thus, the action on Gossip Girl is pleasingly quick, sort of instantly thrilling and constantly moving on.

Super unique & talented, albeit generally slept-on, longtime San Francisco emcee Z-Man flew out to New York City last week to do a couple of gigs including opening for the Alkaholiks at the Knitting Factory last Thursday (4/10) when the Gurp City former 99th Demention emcee, down with the Hieros, totally wrecked it on the mic (pictured left), much to the delight of the numerous San Fran transplants in the NYC audience that night, proudly representing in their SF Giants gear (no doubt they showed up to see both Z-Man and the other SF rapper on the bill Starski who is on the current LIKS tour).

Z-Man, as well as pleasing fans, managed to convert many East Coast-ers unfamiliar to Z-Dazzle's fluency in the Bay Area spun Gurp City** slanguage (word billy) for a tight set that included his song "OJ Simpson & Courtney Love." A great set, with DJ Thanksgiving Brown ably backing up the MC, from a true lyrical talent who I rate up there with E40 and the late Mac Dre when it comes to being a truly creative wordsmith, creating new words and always telling stories in a most engaging way -- a far cry from the usual tired clichés that pass as rap/hop-hop these days. For proof, pick up his CD "Dope or Dog Food" (Refill/Hiero - 2002) or any of the other releases of his available at Amoeba including his "Z-Mutiny" 12" vinyl release. Z-Man never disappoints.

So, this year's festival is winding down. This is the final full week of programming; there is one more double next Thursday, including an amazing Richard Widmark classic. Anyone not familiar with Mr. Widmark's career take note, this showing of Night and the City is a great starting off point. Anyone familiar with his work should come out and pay respects as he passed on March 24th after a lengthy illness...

Last Friday my young Sylvian got a nice earful from unannounced guest speaker James Elroy. My wife Esther spotted his mug when were eating across the street at Musso & Frank, so we kinda figured he was in the area for Hell's Five Hours & The Night Holds Terror, but we didn't know he'd do a number before the 1st feature. The always lovelyColeen Grey (who starred in Hell's Five Hours) spoke between the films; she's quite a charmer. Fortunately she wasn't chastised by Kenneth Anger this time around. Previously at a showing of Nightmare Alley, Mr. Anger abruptly corrected her from the audience about some detail or another, leaving her a bit befuddled.